Search for missing girl suspended

Effort yielded two pieces of clothing known to be worn by missing girl, but deteriorating weather conditions forces suspension

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office has decided to suspend the search for six-year-old Vinesa Snegur due to deteriorating weather conditions.

Snegur slipped and fell into the Clackamas River at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 22 on a trip to play in the snow with her mother and father.

The search today did yield two pieces of clothing which were known to have been worn by her on the day she disappeared. Her hood was found on the bottom of the river two miles downstream while her fleece jacket was found underwater three miles from where she fell in.

Today, the search included the help of more than 60 searchers, who worked continuously until 3:30 p.m. Among the 60 were trained divers and a K-9 unit used to track human scents.

Yesterday, the Oregon National Guard deployed a helicopter equipped with a thermal imager, which was able to complete four passes over the river.

To give an idea of how fast the water is moving, the Portland General Electric Three Lynx station averages 1,300 cubic feet per second (CFS) during the summer.

The day Vinesa fell into the water, the speed was measured at 5,587 CFS and is expected to rise as high as 15,198 by Thursday.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's office will continue the monitor river and water conditions.